Usual buildings and complex housing have pipes (water supply pipes and the like) installed therein for supplying drinking water and water for other applications. Used as these pipes are a cast ion pipe, galvanized steel pipe, lead pipe, copper pipe, asbestos-cement pipe, rigid polyvinyl chloride pipe, and the like. These pipes become unsanitary because water stain, scale, rust, and the like are deposited on the inner wall surfaces thereof while they are used for a long period. Thus, there are conventionally employed a method of washing the interiors of the pipes by supplying a washing fluid from a water spraying cock of a building and the like or a method of removing water stain and the like deposited in the pipes by the water pressure of high pressure water compressed by a compressor and driven into the pipes. Further, there is conventionally employed a method of removing the water stain and the like by inserting a wire with a brush attached to an extreme end and by scrubbing the inner wall surfaces of the pipes with a brush portion.
However, when the interior of the pipe is washed using the washing fluid, a problem is arisen in that not only water stain, scale, rust, and the like are not perfectly removed but also drinking water cannot be used several days because washing fluid remains in the water. Further, the high pressure washing executed using high pressure water has a drawback in that perfect removal of water stain and the like deposited in the pipe is difficult and further in that many operation processes are necessary until the pipe is washed because a large-scale facility such as a compressor, water tank, and the like are required.
Further, the method of scrubbing the inner wall surface of the pipe by the wire with the brush has a problem in practical use because it is difficult to wash a bent portion of the pipe and further a wire as long as the pipe is necessary.
Meanwhile, wells are dug in homes, factories, agricultural regions, and the like to obtain drinking water and agricultural water. Ordinarily, a well pipe such as a clay pipe, Hume pipe and the like is laid in the well to prevent soil avalanche in a dug hole. A usual well pipe is composed of a cylindrical casing portion and a screen portion having a plurality of small holes, and underground water penetrating through the screen portion and stored in the interior of the well pipe is pumped up by a pump when necessary.
Similarly to the pipes in the housing and the buildings described above, water stain, scale, rust, and the like are also deposited on the inner wall of the well pipe when it is used for a long period. Thus, the interior of the well pipe must be washed periodically from a sanitary point of view. Exemplified as a usual washing method is a method of removing water stain and the like deposited on the inner walls of the casing portion 103 and the screen portion 104 by moving up and down a wire brush 140 having a diameter larger than the inner diameter of a well pipe 102 as shown in FIG. 9. When high pressure air is supplied into the well pipe 102 by a compressor 141, the water stain, sludge, and the like in the well pipe 102 removed by the above operation are discharged to the outside as the air rises as shown in FIG. 10.
However, since the conventional well pipe washing method is divided into an operation for removing water stain from an inner wall and an operation for discharging the water stain from a well, a long operation time and a lot of manpower are necessary and a washing cost is expensive.
Further, when a well pipe is washed with the brush, the water stain, rust, and the like deposited on an inner wall cannot be effectively removed because the extreme end of the brush is curved or bent during washing. Further, in the method of removing water stain and sludge by rising air, it is impossible to discharge water stain having a large size and sludge having a large weight to the outside of a well pipe.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to overcome the above problems and to provide a pipe washing method and a pipe washing apparatus capable of washing the inner wall surface of a pipe reliably and very sanitarily in a short time without the need of a large-scale facility and operation process as well as capable of investigating water leakage in the pipe when pipes in housing and buildings are washed. Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a well pipe washing method and a well pipe washing apparatus capable of washing the inner wall surface of a well pipe easily and effectively in a short time with a reduced operation time and process when well pipes are washed.